Smooth Freehand with Antler (Lion) Tobacco Pipe

Son of pipe maker Benni Jørgensen, Lasse Skovgaard began working for the the prestigious W.Ø. Larsen workshop at the age of 16, and by the age of 18, he moved up the ranks at Larsen and started fashioning the workshop's Straight Grain pieces. Under the mentorship of the great Teddy Knudsen, Skovgaard honed his skills and eventually began crafting pipes under his own name. He quickly rose to prominence, and he now enjoys a loyal following that prizes his pipes for their sophisticated shaping, handsome finishes, and elegant line work.

Though it bears resemblance to some of his previous bent Dublin renditions, this piece is a uniquely stylized Freehand that incorporates elements of the Danish Fancy style to great effect, especially with regard to the bowl. Said bowl is a massive one, more than two inches tall and broad, its outline flaring dramatically out of a rearward-facing heel spur and culminating in an asymmetrical ovoid rim that looks as if its been turned to the right. At either flank of the bowl, descending from the rim, two pronounced ridgelines push through into the heel, firming up its sharp silhouette and meeting a third ridgeline. This ridge forms from the left edge of the rim as its sharp edge curves down and through the bowl, the area at the rim here kept soft and contributing to a fluted kind of panel in concert with the ridges around it. This kind of fluting across the bowl is emblematic of the Fancy Freehand style, and it's also a recognizable aspect of Skovgaard's own shaping style, and something we've seen often from the Danish artisan.

The transition here is more than large enough to accept a finger, though its angle is quite tightly-knit, starting the flow of a lengthy shank which lifts as it travels toward the end. A muscular flare highlights the presence of the shank and ceases upon reaching a similarly flared fitment of pale antler to which the stem marries. Such a broad accent of antler is cause for excitement in any case, though Skovgaard wasn't satisfied with just that, for he additionally carved said antler at its face: making an extremely shallow indentation with clearly defined edges, one which allows the expansion-ring-fitted stem to nestle in, removing the possibility for visual gaps between the two materials in seemingly effortless fashion. This is one of the few pipes we've received from Skovgaard to have earned his Lion grade, the mark defining those pipes that are his finest work and which showcase the best grain. This grain can be seen beneath a vibrant auburn contrast stain in the form of dense streaks of flame grain which follow through the outline of the pipe and wrap around the bowl, the rim awash with birdseye.